Treasurer Guy Faherty demonstrated tying one of Flip Pallot’s go-to patterns and provided this writeup:

This fly imitates baitfish and other creatures that live in the Indian River Lagoon, including our home waters, Mosquito Lagoon.  Flip spent many hours fishing in Mosquito Lagoon, and this was one of his favorite flies for redfish, according to an interview with Flip by Mad River Outfitters (I swear!). This looks basically like a Woolly Bugger with lead eyes, to me.

The fly is tied small on a #2 hook. Crystal Flash, marabou, and peacock hurl are tied in at the bend of the hook. A weed guard should be added along with red lead eyes, followed by a body of tan or light brown chenille. Finally, palmer the body with EP Sparkle Brush or hackle material over the chenille. Consider that Brush material sinks a little faster than hackle, I heard.  

This fly is like many others in that you start the fly at the hook bend, then work forward to the eye. Tie it relatively sparse. Don’t overcrowd the material

For step-by-step instructions and a materials list, feel free to email Guy at [email protected].

It’s official! Our club is hosting a showing of the F3T, the Fly Fishing Film Tour, which this year features a film set in our local area. We’ll have some prominent guests associated with that film, plus a raffle and giveaways.

The showing will be on August 29 at 2 pm at the Cinematique Theater in Daytona Beach (242 S. Beach Street). It’s a quaint venue, so we recommend buying your tickets as soon as possible. Online is easiest, but tickets can also be purchased by calling the venue at 800-435-7352 and providing your credit card info. There is no charge for children 12 and under, but they still need tickets.

F3T, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, features a series of fly-fishing films from around the world. In previous years, the films were shown in our local community by Larry Littrell of the Tailer Trash Podcast, who sadly passed away last year much too young. The club decided to pick up where Larry left off by hosting the films as a fundraiser for MDC, just as he had. We used club funds to purchase the rights to the films and began searching for an inside venue, knowing it is summertime and the bugs are real. We chose Cinematique of Daytona, a boutique, 67-seat theater.

In exciting news, the tour includes the film, “Welaka: A Last Great Place,” about fly fishing on our very own St. Johns River. Charlie Levine, formerly of the Anglers Journal, produced the film which is narrated by local fly casting instructor and artist Jon Cave and directed by Central Florida filmmaker Ian Sasso. Each has accepted an invitation to attend the showing on Aug. 29 and discuss the film following the screening. Jon Cave has offered to donate a signed limited edition print for the fundraiser.

Chad Truxall, executive director of the Marine Discovery Center, has assigned his event team to help coordinate the showing. That said, we still have a strong need for volunteers and raffle ideas. If you can help, contact member Tim Sheehan, [email protected], who lined up the Cinematique venue and invited our special guests.

This event is well aligned with our club mission and our bylaws which call on us to build the fly fishing community through engagement and involvement while making contributions to conservation groups. This F3T showing will expand the knowledge of fly fishing in our local community and help our environment in the process.

Club President Nick Hisey of the TheSuburbanAngler fly fishing blog attended the annual ICAST trade show in Orlando, where manufacturers show off their latest wares and professional anglers demo their techniques. Here’s Nick’s report:

Every year in July, the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando hosts what is reputed to be the world’s largest sportfishing trade show. ICAST, the International Convention of the Allied Sportfishing Trades, is presented by the ASA, the American Sportfishing Association. This year’s show was comprised of some 600 exhibiting brands, over 10,000 attendees, and — this is a personal number for me — 30 miles of show floor. The show itself ran from Wednesday through Friday, but the events surrounding ICAST spanned all week. Starting on Monday with fishing and golf tournaments, and followed on Tuesday by a bass tournament, On The Water Demo Day, seminars and press release events, and the buyer and media New Product Showcase Cocktail Reception. So, it was definitely a full week!

My purpose for going was to share the experience of being surrounded by every imaginable piece of fishing equipment! ICAST has everything from foam bobbers and live night crawlers to automatic reels and boating electronics costing in the tens of thousands of dollars. I try to seek out all things fly fishing related. The International Fly Tackle Dealer’s Show used to be partnered with ICAST, so finding the fly gear then was much easier to do. Nowadays, it takes walking the show floor multiple times looking for equipment and talking to vendors about the fly gear that may not be displayed so prominently. While the hunt may be a bit more involved now, and the likelihood of a fly-only exhibitor is pretty low, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few pieces of new equipment this year.

The most common theme in new fly fishing products seemed to be the expansion of existing rod product lines. G. Loomis, St. Croix, and TFO were all displaying updates to existing catalogs, and I was told that Loop currently has a few new sticks in the works. If you’re familiar with the 100-plus-year-old feather purveyors Schuman Feathers, they’ve announced a new division this year called Pluma that focuses entirely on fly tying feathers (with the incredibly rich coloring process they use for Carnival costumes!). Benchmade Knives partnered with Abel Reels to create the ABEL1 Mini Adira folding knife, featuring Abel’s signature porting and anodizing on the scales and Benchmade’s MagnaCut knife steel. I was also told that the just-released Loop ClassicX reel may soon be getting a saltwater fly fishing counterpart, so that’ll be something to look out for.

There were many things to see and experience at ICAST2026 and I was glad to hear of the new fly fishing products that will be entering the market in the next year or so. The show may not cater to fly fishing like before, but there is still plenty to see and I always look forward to walking the floor and sharing what I find! There are more photos on both my Facebook and Instagram accounts, and as soon as I finish editing and uploading there will be additional pictures on TheSuburbanAngler.com.

Contractors for Cape Canaveral National Seashore were seen heading out onto Mosquito Lagoon with an herbicide mixture. The spraying of Brazilian pepper trees and Australian pines on islands in the lagoon was done without any public announcement ahead of it. The lack of communication induced a lot of shock and anxiety among commercial fishermen and guides, who feared the spraying would kill mollusks, crustaceans, fish and grass. Canaveral Seashore, which ran the project for FWC (the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) acknowledged that the lack of public notice and explanation about the techniques and goals was an oversight. According to Canaveral, the contractors sprayed the herbicide mixture only onto the lower trunks of the trees and a safe distance from the water. Member Ben Iannotta wrote about the project here.